This question perplexed me for quite a long time actually. The answer can be looked up and answered quite easily from the Boston Marathon website. To qualify for Boston, a person must complete a 26.2 mile race (marathon) that is a Boston Qualifying race, and also must finish it within a certain time limit based upon their gender and age. That is only the start of it however.
By October 2015, I had ran and finished 9 marathons, yet the Boston Marathon qualifying time was way beyond my reach. Here was a list of my past marathons and the finishing times:
1. Culver City Marathon (CA) Dec 2001: 5:10:27
2. Los Angeles Marathon (CA) Mar 2002: 4:14:07
3. Sunriver Marathon (OR) Sep 2013: 4:18:28
4. Portland Marathon (OR) Oct 2013: 4:13:14
5. Seattle Marathon (WA) Dec 2013: 4:18:33
6. Coeur D'Alene Marathon (ID) May 2014: 3:30:49
7. Portland Marathon (OR) Oct 2014: 3:32:34
8. Coeur D'Alene Marathon (ID) May 2015: 3:30:53
9. Portland Marathon (OR) Oct 2015: 3:41:40
Being self-coached, after having a setback at the 9th marathon, I decided to take a step back and not run a marathon for at least one year to see if I could figure this out. I would need to beat 3 hours and 10 minutes or maybe 3 hours 15 minutes if I waited a year in order to run the Boston Marathon when I turned 40.
First, I would have to look at past breakthrough marathon times in my past.
--What helped me get from 5:10 to 4:14 between the first and second marathons? I believe it was the longer training runs before my second marathon. Before my first marathon, my longest training run was about 13 miles. It was a rookie mistake of mine to try my first marathon with inadequate training.
--What helped me get from 4:18 to 3:30 between the 5th and 6th marathons? I believe it was the trail running and hill work I had incorporated over that Winter and Spring that took away my runner's knee and patellar tendinitis, thus enabling me to run the entire marathon rather than walking for the last miles.
Side note:
--An unanswered question might be "Why was there an 11 year gap between my second and third marathon?" Life responsibilities came to play in a big way. After my second marathon, I had to focus full-time on school. Then with marriage, children, and work, running was only occasionally done and was not a priority. I simply didn't have time for hobbies or extra-curricular activities. It wasn't until I had a 2 month batchelor pad time in 2012 that I gave running a thought again that May when I ran my first half-marathon in Cary, NC finishing in over 2 hours. In the Spring of 2013, a friend of mine and I decided to get back into running by doing 1 mile runs three days per week. 1 mile runs became 5 mile runs and my eyes were again set upon the marathon.
Second, I would apply these breakthrough factors to planning an even faster marathon time sometime in the next year or two.
--It would make sense that in order to bring the marathon time from 3:30 to the 3:12 range, I would have to build more strength and endurance while utilizing speed/hill work. In addition, optimizing fueling strategy would be helpful.
--Since my fitness peaks in the March to May time frame, I would want to choose a marathon in that time frame.
--Since I am a better downhill runner than flats or uphill runner, a downhill marathon would be ideal.
--The fastest lightest shoe would need to be used. Asics Gel Hyperspeed 6 was my choice given my wide feet and confidence in these comfortable shoes.
Third, I would need to run a marathon in the BQ time frame so that I could run at Boston when I am 40 years old in 2018. That would give me a 3:15 BQ limit. Assuming 3 minute cushion would be enough, a 3:12 target time would seem reasonable.
Having just got into ultramarathons in 2014 and 2015, I decided to run lots of long ultras in 2016 while I took a break from marathons, because I had learned that the adventure and problem-solving aspects of these races intrigued me the most. I tackled and finished all four 100 milers that year including Badger 100, Zion 100, Bighorn 100, and Lost Soul 100, my 100 mile slam. After having finished these races successfully, I decided to refocus on the marathon distance.
The 2017 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon in Ojai, CA would be my best chance to qualify for Boston in 2018. It is held Memorial Day weekend in May, and has a net downhill course. The potential downside of this course is that it can get warm towards the end and it can be windy at times. Yet the early start helps with those factors some.
Not wanting to lose my ultra running fitness, I also planned to do three 100 milers and a 50k in 2017. As unconventional tune-up races, I planned to run Badger 100 in March and Tillamook Burn 50k in April. Although Badger 100 was a mediocre result for me due to a flare up of runner's knee, Tillamook Burn 50k turned out to be a PR, which gave me a degree of confidence going into Mountains 2 Beach Marathon.
Oddly enough, my running mileage was down from Nov 2016 to Apr 2017, averaging only 150 miles per month vs. 180-200 per month in prior years. This year I did incorporate more cross training though, like bicycling, downhill skiing, and rowing. In addition, the two weeks before Mountains 2 Beach Marathon, I did 4 heat training sessions on a treadmill.
On the Friday before the marathon, I took a JetBlue flight to Long Beach in the afternoon, arriving around 4:30 pm. After getting a rental car and stopping at a grocery store for gatorade and food, I drove to my parents house for the night. On Saturday, I went to a church service in the morning, had lunch with my parents, and then drove over to Ventura where they had packet pickup.
After picking up my bib and packet, I drove to the Days Inn in Camarillo and had supper which included raisin bagels, tostada shells, bananas, applesauce, and pretzel chips.
On Sunday morning, my alarm woke me up at 2am! That's right--2am! I must have been expecting a good day, because jokes started popping up in my head.
"Whats a meal at 2am called? "Supfast or Brupper
"What kind of shoelaces drive you nuts when you get ready for a race?" Cat-chewed laces (sounds like cashew)
Anyway, for breakfast at 2:40 am I ate more bananas, applesauce and bagels.
By 3:30 am I had parked in Ventura and was waiting for the shuttle to take me to the start.
At 4:00 am the shuttle left and by 4:45am, it arrived in Ojai at the start.
There, a bunch of us waited in the post office, trying to stay warm. There were ample porta potties outside for the runners.
At 5:45 am I had my first gel, applied sunscreen, and headed to the start line.
At 6:00 am, the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon started.
I started between the 3:07 and 3:12 pace groups for the first 3 uphill miles. Sticking to a 7:20 pace for the first three miles was my plan and it worked well. I was breathing easily and really looked forward to the coming downhill miles. As I made the hairpin curve at mile 3, I quickly accelerated into a 6:42-7:12 pace for the next 6 miles, keeping up with the 3:07 group. I took a gel at mile 6 with water. For miles 3-23, there is a 900 ft net descent which allows the runner to maximize downhill speed without having to break along the way.
Photo Credits to Dan Holmes
At mile 10, I clocked a 6:37 mile, and at mile 13 I peaked at a 6:23 mile on a nice downhill section. I now had the 7:02 pace group in my sites. I also had taken another gel by mile 12. By the 13.1 marker, I was just under 1:31 for the half. "Nice--a little ahead of my plan but I was feeling well."
A few small hills slowed me down a touch to 6:40 to 7:16 miles for the next 4 miles. At mile 18, I took my final gel. The heat of the day was beginning with temps up in the mid 60s now. Fatigue was beginning to set in and I began getting lower abdominal discomfort. Mile splits were now 7:24-7:39 for miles 19-22. By mile 23, abdominal discomfort was quite intense, causing me to slow down to 7:51 mile split. I looked around for a porta potty, yet knowing if I stopped at all, I likely wouldn't meet my time goal. I pressed on, but consciously slowing down more to 8:20-8:25 mile splits for miles 24-26, out of necessity. Hoards of runners now passed me. I was still running, yet I didn't know if I could make it to the finish. By the final stretch, I was just over 3:09 and I sprinted to see if I could get under 3:10. Yes! 3:09:27 was the chip time, beating my 3:12 time goal, and securing a BQ so I could run in the 2018 Boston Marathon!
I found out that the answer was in the question. Even after multiple speed sessions, my speed had not changed over the past 15 years. In 2001, I could run just under a 6:00 mile. In 2017, I could still run just under a 6:00 mile.
In order for me to run fast enough, I would have to run far and run long. By the time I ran the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon, I had finished six 100 mile races in the past 2 years, four 50k races in the past 3 years, and 9 marathons over the past 15 years.
So, what did running far and long do to help me run a marathon faster? I believe trail running and ultra running helps a person build more leg muscle, endurance, and running economy, and also decreases risk of overuse injuries. This can also make up for the gradual reduction in speed as we get older.
Runners of the Boston Marathon have a wide range of pathways that they took to get there. Some like me, are decent road runners that work and work and work at improving there times, until one day, the years of running and lessons of the past steer the runner towards their goals. Others, the very fast and elites seemingly easily BQ when they finish a marathon due to their exceptional biomechanics, training, and fitness. Still others, may never BQ because of biomechanics, injuries, life challenges, or because it doesn't seem like a realistic goal.
I hope my 15 year journey to qualify for the Boston Marathon is helpful to others, who may have hit a performance plateau, or who would like to explore an unconventional way to maximize one's potential in the marathon.
